Associations of the Built Environment With Physical Activity and Sedentary Time in Ugandan Outpatients With Mental Health Problems.

Background: This study investigated whether reported neighborhood variables explained variance in time spent walking, exercising, and being sedentary, in addition to mental health and demographic variables among Ugandan outpatients with mental illness.

Methods: Ninety-nine outpatients (78 men; 31.1 [8.

Construct Validity of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale for Africa.

Purpose: The development of valid measures of built environments relevant for physical activity is an important step toward controlling the global epidemic of physical inactivity-related noncommunicable diseases and deaths. This study assessed the construct validity of a self-report neighborhood environment walkability scale adapted for Africa (NEWS-Africa), by examining relationships with self-reported walking for transportation and recreation using pooled data from six sub-Saharan African countries.

Methods: NEWS was systematically adapted to assess urban, periurban, and rural environments in sub-Saharan Africa.

NEWS for Africa: adaptation and reliability of a built environment questionnaire for physical activity in seven African countries.

Background: Built environment and policy interventions are effective strategies for controlling the growing worldwide deaths from physical inactivity-related non-communicable diseases. To improve built environment research and develop African specific evidence, it is important to first tailor built environment measures to African contexts and assess their psychometric properties across African countries. This study reports on the adaptation and test-retest reliability of the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale in seven sub-Saharan African countries (NEWS-Africa).